tomtom go920 revue

[Perris Calderon]

ya, I might have to take back my scathing revue of their customer support however it did take them long enough to address my issue and they never really did, this is a replacement from a crashed operating system in my original unit

anyway, this thing is really amazing, I don't know how far gps technology and the units have come since I bought the previous model but the advances in this unit are stunning, I could not have predicted this much improvement in the course of a year

it's got uncanny voice recognition, the only thing it takes it's time recognizing is the final house number which you can tap in if you don't want to wait for the os to recognize your input

it's got an fm transmitter so if the volume on the unit isn't load enough I can use my radio

it's got blue tooth remote control so you don't have to aim it at the unit but this I don't like, I would rather the infra red or sonic since the blue tooth is either on or off instead of demand and I am trying to eliminate close microwaves where possible

thanx to the voice recognition I hopefully won't be using the remote control

it's got traffic rerouting as well using an external antenae, I don't understand why the antenae has to be external instead of internal but it comes with the unit

it's also got free internet traffic you can sync if you want to bluetooth your phone to the device, I don't understand why you would use this method instead of the antenae though, maybe someone could explain

as the past model you can use your phone hands free through the gps, this isn't really good since the mike is so far away

it's got traffic camera location which will save you a ticket

I can correct the internal map which is very nice and I can share my corrections over the internet with other users, this is really good since I can't stand having to pay for updated maps after spending so much on a gps

big screen,could be bigger though

slim

uses linux I am told, lightening fast os

only 4 gigs available for music on the hardrive, my previous unit had 20 gigs available...doesn't matter to me but I think to most here that's important

it also does some mathematical telemetry when you don't have a gps signal and it can actually keep you navigated using gravity sensors to calculate speed vs position when signal was lost

this is hard to believe and I will report back when I test it, to my mind it would only be accurate for a few blocks and a couple of turns but time will tell

will report back after I have a few weeks under my belt

it seems it's available on the internet for 4 to 5 hundred, it seems like a bargain at the 6 it goes for in the stores

 

[Dark Atheist]

Re: so tomtom gave me the "go920"

how many gadgets do you have and how many do you actually use ?

 

[Perris Calderon]

Re: so tomtom gave me the "go920"

how many gadgets do you have and how many do you actually use ?

I use everything I have carpo, mostly my new gadgets just replace gadgets I've had for a while that need replacing

 

[Dark Atheist]

Re: so tomtom gave me the "go920"

do you believe in recycling - if so can i have your old gadgets?

 

[Perris Calderon]

Re: so tomtom gave me the "go920"

do you believe in recycling - if so can i have your old gadgets?

I don't get new ones till the old ones break carpo

and usually the old ones are replaced by the company I bought them from in the first place

 

[Perris Calderon]

Re: so tomtom gave me the "go920"

well, I have to say I am nothing but impressed with this device

first "I love it" feature, I can actually record my own directions as it asks me commands to repeat, I have added some very sophisticated 4 letter words, like;

"HEY, AHOLE, YOU MISSED THE TURN NOW MAKE A U TURN!"

neat

the voice recognition is probably an accident saver, I no longer have to use the remote or look at the screen to enter addresses, it didn't have to be trained and it hardly misses, it's fast enough since you can talk to it while you're driving you really loose no time while it's thinking about what you say to it

satellite acquisition is lightening fast, in addition it downloads satellite positions of your home when you dock so it's pretty much ready to go when you turn it on

I don't care much for the "virtual GPS" or whatever they call it, when you loose he signal it calibrates your position so you can still have an idea where you are, thing is this has some kind of gravity device or gyroscope that gets messed up when you are up or down a hill and I don't care for that feature, waste of technology and electronics as far as I am concerned

the FM broadcasting is very nice in my rag top since when I put the top down I need something louder then most, with this I can tune the unit to one of the dead frequencies on my radio and use all the wattage of my monsoon radio so I can hear it fine

it's got a cool battery saving strategy, it turns off the screen when directions are not being spoken, this should quadruple battery life if I used it which I don't think I will though I really hate the power cord so I am on batteries quite a bit

it comes with a traffic antennae thingy, I guess local stations broadcast traffic reports and this unit will calibrate best route considering traffic

I haven't had the opportunity to test the accuracy of the traffic reports this receives so I don't know if it's a good feature or not

I might think traffic reporting is kind of stale and I don't really think this feature is gonna work out but I will let you know when I find out

it's got a "help" button which is very nice, hit help and it will dial the police or ambulance for you, it knows where you are and dials the local number, this is gonna save somebody's life I am sure

you have a "quick menu" which means you can pick what comes up on the "quick button" and have your most common requests right at your fingertips

for instance, I put "FM broadcast" and "voice directions" on this button because I use those the most

you can set it to know traffic on your route to work right when you turn it on, I guess this is good if you have a long commute, I don't so I won't be using that feature

here's something I wish it had;

I wish I could log the gps's position on some site, this way if my car or the unit is stolen I can track it...though I leave my phone on in the car so if my car is stolen I can track it through my cell phone, a sort of home made lo jack that doesn't cost me anything

I love the fact that it's a usb charging port, this means I can use the charger for my windows mobile units as well as the gps...I don't know why but I really got some pleasure out of using the gps cord to charge my phone

I can upload a picture and change what my car looks like, I guess this would be fun for you GUI guys, I don't care much and won't be doing that

it can blue tooth to your iphone or radio or your mobile phone, if you have a data plan you can link the gps right to the INTERNET for tomtom traffic which I don't get either, why would you link to tomtom traffic when you can use the free service from the local traffic reports?

anyway, over all, I do believe this unit is excellent, however I don't know how far gps technology has come and I don't know if all these features are common to other units

the one gripe I have is the units it reports distance, it's doing feet for some reason even though my previous tomtom did yards

feet is ridiculous, I need to find a way to get this to report in yards but I don't think that's possible

oh

I can correct the internal maps, this is key, I won't need to upgrade maps, there is also a buddy system where you can upload your corrections and download other users corrections...pretty neat

I have to say though, the price of 600 dollars is not worth it, if I had to spend the money again I would just get a 200 dollar unit, they all navigate the same I think and the bells and whistles aren't worth the price

 

[Perris Calderon]

can someone tell me how to find out which version of linux is on this gps?

I want to install some apps, like a web browser and possibly some tools to share files with my pocket pc via blue tooth

I can supposedly use a 16 gig chip for data so I shouldn't have a storage issue with whatever I want to install